The present invention relates to a method and a device for mixing highly toxic, corrosive, etc. substances, and in particular cancer treatment pharmaceuticals having such characteristics, and delivering the mixed substance; e.g. the pharmaceutical, to a receptacle such as an I.V. bag for subsequent administration of the pharmaceutical to a patient.
The use of certain toxic, tissue (e.g. skin) attacking pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer has expanded. For example, a group of compounds derived from the yew tree which grows in tropical rain forests and which, for example, are available under the trademark TAXOIDS (a trademark of Rhone-Poullange) has become more common. Typically, such pharmaceuticals are first prepared by mixing at least two (for binary systems) components and then delivering the mixed components to an I.V. bag for intravenous administration. In the body, the pharmaceutical disrupts the DNA of cancer cells and their reproductive cycle. The commercially available TAXOIDS pharmaceutical is prepared by mixing two liquid components delivered in septum-sealed vials, one vial containing the pharmaceutically active cancer treatment, and the other a diluent.
In the past, the mixing and delivery of the pharmaceutical was typically done with syringes which had to be inserted into and withdrawn from the vials and the I.V. bag. This is time-consuming task and spillage of toxic liquids could occur several times while the pharmaceutical was prepared and delivered to the I.V. bag.
The active compounds are so toxic that even a minor leak; e.g. a drop which may accidentally spill onto a person's skin, requires a skin graft to heal. Since the entire operation requires the passage of the pharmaceutical, and of its components, between multiple containers and receptacles and each such transfer has the potential of leakage, medical personnel preparing the pharmaceuticals have heretofore been exposed to significant danger from coming into skin contact with them.
Thus, there is presently a need for both simplifying the preparation and delivery of such toxic substances, including particularly the above-mentioned cancer treatment pharmaceuticals, and preventing contact between medical personnel preparing them.